THERE has been a common thread to Winchester City’s three league and cup losses this season.

On each occasion the opposition goalkeeper has emerged as man-of-the-match.

It was the same old story at Cirencester Town on Saturday as Centurians ’keeper Mat Wieczorek kept City at bay with a string of smart saves.

It didn’t look like City stopper Ryan Pryce would be beaten either until, with just 11 minutes remaining, Ben Whitehead netted the only goal of a tight Evo-Stik South West contest.

The Citizens were guilty of a poor clearance which was seized on by Matt Jones. He played a measured pass into the path of Whitehead who arrowed a left-foot shot into the top corner.

“I’m starting to sound a bit like a broken record, but we were much the better side for long periods,” said City boss Craig Davis in the wake of a galling 1-0 defeat.

“We’ve had three losses and three times the ‘keeper has been man-of-the-match - as voted by their club, so it’s not as case of rose-tinted glasses.

“But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to be sharper in both boxes,” he stressed.

“We’ve not been shy of scoring goals this season, but we should have had so many more.

“We’ve dominated every game we’ve played but, to be what we want to be, we’ve got to make the most of that dominance. If we had, we could be sat here on maximum points and still in the FA Cup.

“But no excuses. We simply have to be better at converting all of the good play into goals and killing games off. We are a work in progress and need to keep our heads up and go again next game.

“Cirencester are a good side with several players who won the Southern Premier with Chippenham last season. To be much the better side against them, playing on a 3G pitch too, is a good thing. But, in the end, it’s the result that matters.”

City’s next league assignment is at home to Mangotsfield United on Saturday week (September 23).

“It’s frustrating because you just want to play again straight away,” said Davis. “But we’ll keep our frustration boiling and use it as fuel for the next game.”